Sat, Mar 16th - 4:51AM
PrimaBead Booth Entry
One of my pieces will be displayed by Cousin at PrimaBead's booth at the June 2013 Bead & Button Show. I decided to do an embroidered necklace and this picture shows the start after cutting out the shape of the bib. I have five white stones with one white and brown agate placed on the bib.
I then used different techniques to create bezels, including peyote stitch, backstitching, and couching.
Once I had the main accent stones done (except for the lower center one...there I am going to add some peyote stitching to the inside hole), I started embroidering the background.
As you can see, progress is made, but this type of design takes a lot of work. This is how much I had done by March 15, 2013. There is an April 1, 2013 deadline for submission.
The fringe technique is called "corraling", and originated in Russia.
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Sun, Mar 3rd - 7:50AM
Cousin Corporation of America Hosts Creative Circle Ambassadors
On February 20, 2013, four of Cousin Corporation of America's (CCA) Creative Circle Ambassadors (CCCA) traveled to the Tampa Bay Area to visit CCA's headquarters and facility in Largo, Florida.
I was the first to land in Florida and spent hours with Chris White from the Sales Department. We traveled to Clearwater Beach, and spent lunchtime eating sandwiches outside at a local pub.
The rest of the day was spent picking up the other three CCCA's and giving them the tour. We all arrived at our beautiful Doubletree by Hilton Hotel in Redington Beach around 4 PM and had a chance to unpack, enjoy the beautiful ocean view from our rooms and prepare for our photo shoot and reception.
Here's Chris heading towards the beach:
After meeting the wonderful team at Cousin, formal photos were taken as the sun was setting.
From the left, Jeff Cousin, Shelly Owen, Lisa Crone, Suzette Bentley, Gail Devoid, and Liz Heggy.
We enjoyed a wonderful reception and met several of the managers and staff from Cousin.
The next day, one of the fabulous things we did at the headquarters was browse the bead library to pick out whatever supplies we wanted to design whatever we could do in one hour. As we had just met the designers, I already had my head spinning with ideas, so I quickly picked out matching beads and findings and got to work.
I started with a bead board and the beads I chose in pink. Here's the necklace that sports a silver sand dollar, which was designed by Theresa Hyatt. In a conversation with Theresa, we learned that we both received inspiration from nature. It was no surprise to me that I loved her designs!
Here's a closeup of the silver sand dollar:
The clasp that Theresa designed was a piece of enameled metal in the shape of coral connecting to a seahorse. Beautiful! Because of a twist designed into the coral side, the clasp is very secure.
I found I had time left to make a pair of matching earrings with the leftovers from my supplies. I have noticed that Cousin gives enough materials in a strand for beaders to make these little extras.
A tour of the factory showed us how Cousin manages to ship so many orders a day, and we enjoyed meeting the oh-so-quick order pullers. All of the office walls at Cousin are decorated with pictures of past themes, jewelry, some of which have the actual jewelry on dress forms in front of the pictures. What an enjoyable visit!
That night I wore my latest design to the excellent dinner the group had at the Salt Rock Grill. The wine room was behind glass walls and doors and very impressive.
I cannot thank the team at Cousin Corporation of America for planning and preparing for our visit, and making it one of the highlights of 2013 for me.
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Thu, Aug 23rd - 6:33AM
Newest Work as a CCC Ambassador
Blog Entry 082312
Since I became one of five Cousin Corporation of America's Creative Circle Ambassadors, I have been busy making the month's assignment, which was to be a piece inspired by Florida. I visited Miami Beach several times and was always inspired by the colors in the water and in the sunsets. With that in mind, I designed the necklace below, which was in my last blog post. I am in the midst of writing and publishing the pattern for this.
This piece, which I called Florida Inspiration, had to be made of all Cousin components. The turquoise-colored beads are separated with crystal rondelles that twinkle with light the way the sun did on the water, and the orange beads in the multi-strand fade to light pink, just as the colors in the sunset did.
The clasp is also crystal to match the rondelles, and is silver-plated.
I then went on to design a matching pair of earrings.
I went on to make more jewelry with the supplies sent by Cousin Corporation of America (below). Using Cousin Trinkettes® beads, the first piece represents my first try at Viking Knit.
I made another design with SilverSilk, still using the Cousin Trinkette beads:
And, finally, using the leftover beads and the ribbon from the packaging used in Cousin Trinkettes®, I made a bookmark:
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Sat, Aug 11th - 6:48AM
Florida Inspiration
Florida Inspiration Necklace
On Monday, August 6, 2012, Cousin Corporation of America announced the five bead artists chosen to be their Creative Circle Ambassadors. I am honored to announce that I was one of them.
This piece is made of Cousin components in response to our first defined project that was to reflect the inspiration Florida gives us. For me, the blue water, and the wonderful sunsets at Miami Beach when I was a child on vacation with my family gave me the idea for this necklace. The turquoise-colored beads are separated with crystal rondelles that twinkle with light the way the sun did on the water, and the orange beads fade to light pink in the eight strands between the blue beads.
The clasp is also crystal to match the rondelles, and is silver-plated.
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Mon, Aug 6th - 8:18AM
Gail Becomes A Creative Circle Ambassador
You can imagine how excited I am about this!
Gail Devoid Becomes a Creative Circle Ambassador
COUSIN CORPORATION OF AMERICA ANNOUNCES CREATIVE CIRCLE AMBASSADORS
Five Passionate Jewelry Makers Will Spread the Word about Cousin and the Craft of Jewelry Making
LARGO, Fl., August 6, 2012 – Cousin Corporation of America, a premier manufacturer of jewelry making components, has chosen a select group of jewelry makers for its inaugural Creative Circle ambassador program for the 2012-13 year.
Cousin received an overwhelming amount of applications for the coveted slots and the vetting process took five weeks in order to review all of the submissions. The ambassadors were chosen by the selection committee based on their unique contributions to the program, commitment to jewelry making and social media and networking savvy.
The 2012-2013 Creative Circle™ ambassadors are: Suzette Bentley, Lisa Crone, Dr. Gail Devoid, Ph.D., Shelly Owen and Patty Squillante. The five ambassadors will have a platform to share ideas with the product development team, receive Cousin products to incorporate into their work, preview upcoming programs and provide feedback about products before they go to market.
“We are excited to launch our inaugural Ambassador program with these highly talented jewelry makers,” said Jeff Cousin, President. “Cousin is an industry leader with a strong reputation for providing quality products and unique inspiration. Together with our ambassadors we look forward to growing the Cousin brand and keeping the craft of jewelry making relevant, enjoyable and innovative.”
The ambassadors were officially welcomed by the Creative Circle™ team on August 2nd and are currently highlighted on Cousin’s website, www.cousin.com and their Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/#!/CousinCorp. About Cousin
Cousin Corporation of America is a family owned company founded in 1970 as Enterprise Art, a retail craft store in Largo, Florida. Today Cousin is a premier wholesaler of jewelry making supplies. Their focus is to design, manufacture and provide quality jewelry making products at an exceptional value to customers who are inspired by the craft of jewelry making. For more information about Cousin Corporation of America, please visit www.cousin.com.
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